Story The Ashes 2002/03(Is It England's Time?)

[timmy94]

It's time once again for England to travel to Australia,to see if they can regain The Ashes for the first time since 1987.
Australia are 2nd in the Test Championship,and come off the back of a 3-0 test series win against Pakistan,winning 2 by an innings.
England come here 5th in the Championship,and off the back of a 1-1 test series draw against India.
We have the teams for the First Test Match from Brisbane:

Steve Waugh (capt)
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Ricky Ponting
Damien Martyn
Darren Lehmann
Adam Gilchrist (wkt)
Andrew Bichel
Jason Gillespie
Glenn McGrath
Stuart McGill

Daren Lehmann replaces Mark Waugh,who announces his retirement from International Cricket.Lehmann has played 5 tests for Australia,and is the leading run scorer in the history of Australian First Class Cricket.Jason Gillespie has just recovered from a strain on his right calf muscle,picked up in Australia's tour of Pakistan.Also,Shane Warne has picked up an ankle injury,and following surgery,is expected to return for the World Cup.

Nasser Hussain (capt)
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan
Mark Butcher
John Crawley
James Foster (wkt)
Craig White
Simon Jones
Ashley Giles
Andy Caddick
Matthew Hoggard

Craig White has been brought into the side as England's all-rounder,as Flintoff,following a double hernia operation,said that he was still feeling stiff having bowled 18 overs in England's last tour match.Graeme Thorpe is not touring Australia,saying that he did not want to be away from his family.Could this be the end of his career?Also,Darren Gough has a knee injury,and has gone for surgery,and could not play any part in this years tour.Steven Harmison has shin splints,and in-form Vaughan has over come his knee injury and is available.

So,here at the Gabba,its a wonderful day,and a huge crowd hoping another Ashes series win,although the Barmy Army,as always have come in there thousands to support England,and give them a boost.

The two captains and the match referee came out into the middle for the toss,Hussain called tails,but it was heads,and Steve Waugh chose to bat on a hard flat pitch,with a clear blue sky.

The batsmen run on to the crease,confident in getting Australia off to a good start,and the England team,walk on hoping to get an early brake through and put the pressure on Australia,although,on a flat pitch,it looks like its fill your boots time for the batsmen.

 

[Jaztheman]

God, back in time or what?!

With Shane Warne out, England could have a good shot at winning this Ashes. Here's hoping. Great start, Timmy.

 

[timmy94]

Andrew Caddick had the new ball in his hand,the fielders were in their positions,the fans had their beers,and Hayden was ready to face the first ball of The Ashes.
Into the 4th over,Hoggard to Hayden.The first wicket of the match,Hayden edges it to Trescothick at 2nd slip,to take a good catch diving to his left,the score at 13-1.Ponting takes a single off his first ball.The next delivery,Langer is gone too,a missed timed hook shot goes straight to Caddick at square leg,both openers gone with 14 on the board.

The next over,Ponting hits 2 consecutive fours to begin the re-build.
Ricky and Martyn looked good,with Australia at 42-2 after 10 overs.A bit of luck for Ponting the next over,and edge just goes past 2nd slip.
Caddick did not have a good opening spell for England,he bowled 6 overs for 40 runs!.Ponting seemed to think this game was an ODI,or just wanted to hammer the English and show no mercy.He raced to his 50 off just 43 balls.

The 100 came up in the 17th over.Giles came into the attack for England,and tempted Ponting into an aggressive shot,plonking it straight back for a caught and bowled,Ponting gone for 64 off 56,ending the 98 run partnership.Martyn edges for 4 off White,before the players head off the pitch and go in for lunch,Australia 128-3 after 27 overs in the session.

So,an extremely aggressive session from Australia,looking to put the England players confidence down by hammering them at almost 5 RPO.Hoggard did bowl well,7 overs 2-26.So,when the players finish their lunch in 40 minutes,it will be Martyn(34*) and Waugh(7*) who will start the afternoon.

Session highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAHhhjPSbLE

 

[Roofrom50]

Good start by Ponting and Martyn is playing a good supporting role here. 128 after 27 overs is a good score from the Aussies, they'd just didnt want their two opening batsmen back at the pavillion.

Good nice and neat presentation mate, keep up the good work mate

 

[Jaztheman]

Australia lost early wickets but they have just started to regain their position in the match. Ponting was fantastic and now the Waugh/Martyn partnership will put on more runs. It's quite even at the moment, but England need to break this partnership.

Very good presentation, and love the video.

 

[timmy94]

Waugh and Martyn were in the middle at the start of the afternoon session after an exciting opening morning.White bowled a maiden first up then in the next over,Waugh got the first boundary of the session off Giles.
2 overs later,Martyn goes for the big shot,and loops it up straight to Giles,identical to Ponting,gone for 34.
After getting off the mark with a boundary,Lehmann's first test since the last Ashes here got underway.But he didnt last long,Giles gave the ball some flight,Lehmann went down the wicket,missed,and the rest is history,Lehmann back in the pavillion for 7.
Gilchrist came out,and was out in the middle with his captain,and they knew it was important that they got a huge partnership to steady the ship for Australia.The runs were still coming fast,around 4.5 an over,and pretty the soon the 50 partnership came up.Caddick was now into the attack,and going slightly better than his opening spell.Caddick bowled one full,outside off-stump,Gilchrist tried the leg glance,but must have timed it a bit early as the ball hit his leg stump,and Gilchrist was out for 31,the score at 209-6 and the first of the tail-enders came out.
Waugh continued on,bringing up his 50.

Then,for some reason,he tried another attacking shot,it was miss timed and was caught,the captain gone for 51,Giles took his 4th wicket in the first day,and it looked like Australia would struggle to get past 250 on a great pitch.

The only real hope left,Bichel,edged behind to Foster for 2 and then McGrath was runout for a 14 ball duck,leaving Australia 219-9.McGill got the final run of the session with an edge off Hoggard to end the afternoon on a disappointing 220-9.

Session highlights
YouTube - Cricket 04,Australia v England,2002,1st test,day 1,ses 2

 

[timmy94]

Gillespie and McGill were out in the middle,to try and get past the 250 mark,although it would be tough work,with the England bowlers now putting up a superb come back.Australia never really looked settled,they were smashing England around at 4.5 an over,but kept losing wickets regularly.The final batsmen stayed out for another 9 overs before McGill tried a square cut off Giles,and 1st slip took the catch that was too quick for the keeper.On the opening day of the match,spinner Ashley Giles took 5-66,with to be honest,not alot of turn off the pitch.

So at 5 o'clock,Vaughan and Trescothick came out,with the Aussies having 75 minutes to bowl at them.
It didn't start well,McGrath conceding 4 byes off the first over.However,Gillespie bowls to Vaughan,in the 4th over,who edges it to the slips,Vaughan going back to the pavillion for just 1 with the score at 9-1.

Thorpe had some luck,with an edge that fell short of the slips.He relieved the pressure by hitting a few fours to take England to 28-1 off 10 overs.
The partnership continued with the boundaries coming.Then on the final ball of the day,Thorpe launched one in the air,down to deep fine leg,the captain Waugh was underneath it,into the hands...and out again.Waugh capping off what has been a disappointing opening day of the Ashes for the Aussies.England end the day 43-1 with Trescothick and Thorpe pretty much settled.

Session highlights
YouTube - Cricket 04,Australia v England,2002,1st test,day 1,ses 3

 

[Roofrom50]

Man that is a poor poor total from the Aussies. A very low scoring scorecard there i have to admit, and if it wasn't for Ponting and S. Waugh, they'd be well and truly out of this match.

Good thing, is there not, and they still have a chance, so hopefully they can come out and bowl well.
Nice presentation mate, loving the work

 

[timmy94]

Brisbane,Day 2 of the first test of the 2002/03 ashes.Day 1 saw the Aussies looking rather stiff,a disappointing total and some rugged bowling at the end of the day.
So day 2,Trescothick and Thorpe were at the crease,looking pretty settled.The bowlers were easy pickings for the two batsmen,with them scoring at 4 runs per over.The 100 came up in the 27th over and pretty soon both Trescothick and Thorpe notched their half-centuries.

150 came up 10 overs later and finally in the 40th over,the spin of McGill was seen.But,despite Giles good bowing,he was hit for 2 fours in his opening over.
In the afternoon,the two slowed down the rate,but were still looking just as good,and the 200 run partnership came up.Thorpe was on 91,starting to play attacking shots to get to his 100 quickly.But despite being settled,Thorpe launched the ball into the air,and was caught in the infield and Thorpe was left to walk back for 91.
The captain Hussain got off the mark with a four.McGill was starting to find some spin,with Hussain at the crease he sent a few spinning far,but,he made one go on with the arm,Hussain played for spin and was hit in-front of leg stump and was given out for 9.Although,some of us were not convinced in the replay.
Meanwhile,Trescothick was still searching for his century,and hit two fours to get his score to 99.Also,Solanki(forgot to put line up fix on)hit his first boundary of the innings.Trescothick,with the field moved in,was finding it hard to get that single.He played a nice leg glance....BUT....maybe a bit of extra bounce as the ball hit the top of the bat,and was hit up straight to square leg,Trescothick absolutely gutted!He walked off very slowly,taking in the applause of the Barmy Army,although,would have been pleased to see the first century of The Ashes.

So,the session going to Australia,Gillespie taking 3 wickets,removing the captain and denying two batsmen of their tons,England on 254-4 with Solanki and Crawley at the crease.

Morning highlights
YouTube - Cricket 04,Australia v England,2002,1st test,day 2,ses 1

Afternoon highlights
YouTube - Cricket 04,Australia v England,2002,1st test,day 2,ses 2

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Wow this is a great story first of all. Aussies had a good start but some good bowling really by the English bowlers. England looking in the drivers seat unfortunate for Trescothick to miss his century.

Good writing mate KUTGW

 

[Roofrom50]

Thorpe and Treschothick both were unlucky Shantanu :cool:

Wonderful story mate, this deserves some reps.. Good luck with it

 

[timmy94]

just realised that Hoggard has been swapped with Thorpe:
so lost my best bowler:

Also White been swapped with Harmison

 

[timmy94]

Australia had a nice spell of bowling at the end of the afternoon session that must have sent spirits up.Solanki got the first boundary of the evening,with an edge off McGill.Crawley didn't last long,a square cut timed just too early,and was caught with a good catch at point for 1 off Gillespie.
Solanki and Foster saw off the new ball with ease,playing some lovely strokes in a nice partnership to take England past the 300 mark.However,Bichel ended the 69 run partnership,with Solanki trying the straight drive,only to edge it to the slips for 35 off 83.

So into the tail now.Giles got off the mark with a four down to fine leg.Foster hit another four,he being the only chance of England to get past 400.That now looked impossible,as McGill took his 2nd wicket,Foster out done by McGill with the flipper,hitting the pad dead in-front,and Foster walked off for a nice 35 off 65 with the score at 341-7.
Another Bichel over,Giles edging agonizingly short of the slips.However,a few balls later,Giles was caught at square leg for 5,England now left with the bowlers.In the final over of the day,McGill fired one in full,the ball went under the bat of Caddick,and slammed into the stumps,McGill taking his 3rd wicket,Australia taking their 5th wicket of the session.

So,England end day 2 at 346-9 with a lead of 114.A fantastic end to the day for Australia,and they should take the final wicket very soon tomorrow,to get as much batting as possible,so the match,still pretty much in the balance.

Session highlights
YouTube - Cricket 04,Australia v England,2002,1st test,day 2,ses 3

 

[Jaztheman]

Australia have clawed their way back into the match and if it wasn't for the runs of Foster, then they would of wrapped the innings up by now. Despite their late surge of wickets, Trescothick and Thorpe have both put England on the road to a good lead. Will Gillespie pick up his 5fer tomorrow morning? He deserves it after getting England's top order out.

Awesome presentation and great work overall, keep it up.